Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $155.6364.

Several brokerages have commented on WPM. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $164.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Wheaton Precious Metals in a report on Thursday, April 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Wheaton Precious Metals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wheaton Precious Metals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 3.5% in the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 7,252,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $811,726,000 after buying an additional 244,027 shares during the last quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 8.5% in the third quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 207,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,210,000 after purchasing an additional 16,300 shares during the last quarter. Sprott Inc. increased its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 3.0% in the third quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 1,151,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,928,000 after purchasing an additional 33,076 shares during the last quarter. LBP AM SA increased its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 632.2% in the fourth quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 119,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,085,000 after purchasing an additional 103,485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC acquired a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals in the fourth quarter valued at $2,052,000. 70.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wheaton Precious Metals Trading Up 4.7%

Wheaton Precious Metals stock opened at $112.58 on Friday. Wheaton Precious Metals has a twelve month low of $85.59 and a twelve month high of $165.76. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $133.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $131.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.43, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.51.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $901.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $868.35 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 65.55% and a return on equity of 20.20%. Wheaton Precious Metals’s quarterly revenue was up 91.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Wheaton Precious Metals will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.195 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Wheaton Precious Metals’s payout ratio is currently 19.70%.

About Wheaton Precious Metals

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. is a Canada-based precious metals streaming company that acquires and manages long-term purchase agreements for metals produced by mining companies. Rather than operating mines, Wheaton provides upfront and ongoing financing to miners in exchange for the right to purchase a portion of the metals produced — typically silver and gold, and occasionally other precious metals — at predetermined prices. This streaming business model offers investors exposure to metal production with reduced operating and capital-cost risk compared with traditional mining companies.

The company’s activities center on structuring and maintaining a diversified portfolio of streaming agreements across multiple jurisdictions.